Life was designed to be lived in community.

1 There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one could perform these signs You do unless God were with him.” 3 Jesus replied, “I assure you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 “But how can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked Him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. 8 The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9 “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus. 10 “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. 11 “I assure you: We speak what We know and We testify to what We have seen, but you do not accept Our testimony. 12 If I have told you about things that happen on earth and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about things of heaven? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven- the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.

John 3:16-17 (KJV) 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

Intro: The message today comes from Day Three of VBS

You here the term all the time, Born Again: To be born again it refers to a spiritual birth not again to a physical birth that Nicodemus was confused about, this is a rebirth of one's spirit, a new life, a renewed soul. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (HCSB)

The new birth is so radical a change in a person's life that it can be described only as being born again. Something so wonderful happens to the soul that it is just like a new birth. It is so radical, so life-changing, and so wonderful that it can be produced only by the love and power of God Himself.

Application: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God

1. Physical Nature: vs. 1-7 “Who are you?”

1 There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one could perform these signs You do unless God were with him.” 3 Jesus replied, “I assure you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 “But how can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked Him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again.

Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. That was the discussion; Nicodemus was approaching this topic from the physical thought of being born again. Jesus was explaining unless one is born again from the spiritual sense you cannot see the Kingdom of God.

Who was Nicodemus: He was a ruler of the Jews, a Pharisee, he apparently was wealthy. He came in behalf of the religionists. Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah and performing the spectacular works that were prophesied of the Messiah; He was the talk of everyone throughout the nation. The rulers were questioning and wondering, Is He really the Messiah? This was the question, the thing that Nicodemus felt compelled to find out. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. He apparently did this because he feared the other leaders who opposed Jesus.

Nicodemus was asking, "Who are you? Jesus saw a man who was searching. So Jesus went right to the heart of the matter. Miracles and signs were not what was important. What was important was for Nicodemus to be changed: changed spiritually, changed within, and changed completely - to undergo such a spiritual change that it could only be described as being born again.

Jesus was explaining to Nicodemus: A man must be "born again." There must be a complete and full change, born all over again, in the sense of a second time, born from above, from God.

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” Romans 6:23 KJV

2. Spiritual Nature: vs. 8-12 “So it is with everyone born of the Spirit”

8 The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9 “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus. 10 “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. 11 “I assure you: We speak what We know and We testify to what We have seen, but you do not accept Our testimony. 12 If I have told you about things that happen on earth and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about things of heaven?

The new birth is a spiritual birth. Nicodemus was puzzled by the words "born again." He did not know what Jesus meant. He understood Jesus to be saying that a man must be born a "second time."

It was being born of water; even of the Spirit Water was a symbol of the Holy Spirit. You had to be born again to see the kingdom of God. Jesus gave the nature of the new birth. It is spiritual, not physical and material. The flesh cannot bridge the gap between flesh and spirit. Flesh is only flesh; it has no power to be born again, to become spirit. Interestingly Jesus had to become flesh in order for the flesh of man to see Jesus: John 1:14 (HCSB) The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus illustrated the point by picturing the wind. The Spirit of God works just like the wind. We may not know how the wind works, but we can see the effects. It is the same with the Spirit of God: we may not know how He works, but we can see the effects of His working.

3. Supernatural Nature: vs. 11-15

“I assure you: We speak what We know and We testify to what We have seen, but you do not accept Our testimony. 12 If I have told you about things that happen on earth and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about things of heaven? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven - the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.

Nicodemus' heart was touched by what Jesus was saying, and he wished to know what was meant by being "born again." he did not know, but he wished to know. Think how many do not even care to know. But the natural man does not welcome what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to know it since it is evaluated spiritually. 1 Corinthians 2:14 (HCSB)

Apparently, Nicodemus did not believe and receive Jesus at this point in his life. He did what so many do: he rejected Jesus. It is man's nature not to believe. The new birth is revealed only by Jesus. This is a Supernatural event! No man can ascend up into heaven; no man can penetrate the spiritual world. Flesh is flesh, that is, born of the earth; therefore, it is earthly. Jesus Christ was different from all other men. His origin was out of heaven, out of the spiritual world and dimension of being. The first act of this supernatural event was Jesus’ death: Jesus illustrated His point by using the Old Testament story of Moses lifting up the bronze serpent in the wilderness. The children of Israel had begun to murmur and grumble about the trials of the wilderness, wishing they had never left Egypt. God disciplined them by sending fiery serpents to plague them. The discipline worked; the people repented and begged for mercy. God met the people's need by telling Moses to make a bronze image of a serpent and to hold it up upon a pole in the midst of the people.

The person who looked upon the lifted up serpent was healed. Jesus said that He must be lifted up just as the serpent was lifted up. What did He mean?

The people of Israel had great need, for they were dying from the poison of the fiery serpents.

People today are dying from the poison of the serpent, the deadly poison of sin. The serpent is a symbol of the evil one, Satan. Jesus Christ destroyed the works of the devil by being lifted up; therefore the serpent hanging upon the pole symbolized the defeat of Satan. By looking upon the defeated evil (the serpent), Israel was healed. Today man is healed by looking upon the Son of Man who has been lifted up upon the cross.

The person who believes in the Son of Man being lifted up will not perish but will have eternal life. If an Israelite believed God's message (the good news of healing), he looked upon the lifted up serpent, and he was healed. If a man did not believe God's message, he did not look, and he died. That’s the way it is with us today: every person must believe the message of Christ in order to be healed, that is, be born again. John 3:16

When we can leave the physical natural of being born again and believe in the spiritual nature of being born again we have experience the supernatural nature of God!